


Papyrus's Sans Collection

by Violet_Royale



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: But it might be deleted due to Wattpad’s new ownership, Gen, He's just worried about him because of his low HP, So i’m posting it here, Underfell Paps doesn't hate his brother, Undertale AU, but he really does care, i posted this on wattpad, sans au, so he's mean to him to make people think he doesn't care about him, so they don't hurt Sans to get to Papyrus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-18 20:20:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29495697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Violet_Royale/pseuds/Violet_Royale
Summary: Underfell Papyrus discovers that there are multiple versions of his brother, and he's pretty upset. He thinks he's going to have to deal with more lazybones than he can handle! But when he actually meets a few other Sanses, he finds that he is actually quite charmed by them, and decides to start a "Sans Collection". And maybe, just maybe, he starts to show that he cares about his own Sans.I do not own any of the characters.
Comments: 16
Kudos: 11





	1. Prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Underfell Papyrus learns about all the other versions of his brother, and decides that he needs to collect them all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am using the canonical heights for all the Sanses. I wrote down the ones I know in the second part of one of my other books called "Ink!Sans One-Shots". The name of the chapter is called "Canonical Heights".

It was just another day in Underfell. Red was walking through the forest, drinking mustard. He was alone, but he knew he wouldn't be for long. His brother would no doubt be looking to bully him sooner or later, just like always.

It drove him crazy, the way Papyrus treated him. None of the other Sanses had to deal with an abusive brother! Not Classic, not Blue, not Outer. None of them! Red thought about all the Sanses he knew.

Well, Dream's brother was pretty mean to him, but Nightmare wasn't a Papyrus so he didn't count. And Ink was an outcode. He didn't actually have a brother, unless you counted his adoptive brothers Reaper and Cross. Who were also not Papyruses. And Raspberry WAS the abusive brother in his family.

"Sans, you lazybones!" Red was snapped out of his thoughts by his brother's yell. "Why aren't you at your post? A human could be walking right by and nobody would know because you're not doing your job!"

Red turned to his brother as the taller began insulting the shorter. It was all stuff he'd heard before, all the insults about how lazy and worthless he was. Red balled his fists as he took the abuse.

"I, the Terrible Papyrus, should not have to put up with such a monster as my brother!" Papyrus finished his rant. "It's a good thing there's only one of you!"

At those words, Red couldn't help but snicker. Papyrus glared at him and yelled, "Why are you laughing?!"

"Sorry, Boss," Red smirked. "It's just funny how you think there's only one of me!"

"What are you talking about?!" snarled Papyrus. Red grinned and said, "Ever heard of the multiverse? Every world has a Sans! There are more of me than can ever be counted, and more are being created every day!"

The truth was, Papyrus DID know of the multiverse, but he never really thought about it much. It was only when his brother mentioned it that the possibility of more Sanses really occurred to him.

"You mean to tell me there are MORE worthless lazybones?!" he yelled, outraged. He did NOT want to think about the prospect of meeting another Sans. One was more than enough to deal with.

"Hi, Red!" a voice nearby suddenly said. The two brothers turned and saw a tiny skeleton dressed in brown and tan emerging from what appeared to be a swirling portal of... paint? The skeleton was wearing a sash with many colored vials on it, and was somehow carrying a paintbrush twice his size in his hands. His eyes were different colors, and he had a black stain on his right cheek. Despite the differences, it was clear to Papyrus that this was one of the other Sanses that his brother was talking about.

"Hi, Ink," Red said to the other Sans. "Look, I know I promised to join you and Outer for golf, but now is not a good time."

"But Red!" Ink said, pouting. "You always say that! And this is the fourth time this month that you—" 

"Ink, trust me on this," Red interrupted.

Papyrus stared at Ink in surprise. He was so much smaller than his own Sans! And he was even—dare he say it?—quite adorable. There was no way such a creature could possibly survive long in this world!

"Is it because of your brother?" Ink asked. "I could fight him to let you go if you want?"

"Nyeh-heh-heh!" Papyrus laughed. "Tiny Sans, you could never stand a chance in a fight against me! For I, the Terrible Papyrus, am a Royal Guard!"

"Yeah, and I'm the Protector of AUs, so fight me!" Ink challenged.

 _Damn, Ink must REALLY want me to play golf with him!_ thought Red in amusement. He'd seen Ink in battle before, and knew that his brother would not be able to defeat him.

Papyrus, on the other hand, thought it was cute that Ink was challenging him. So cute, in fact, that he decided to go easy on the little guy. It wasn't what he'd normally do, but the smaller skeleton was just too precious.

"Very well," he said. "I'll fight you! If I win Sans has to get back to work. If you win, he gets to go play golf with you."

 _Oh, this is just too good!_ Red thought, pulling out his phone. _I've got to get some of the others to see this!_

***Time Skip***

Papyrus was in shock. This tiny little Sans, this cute and innocent looking Ink, was totally kicking his ass! AND he kept dodging everything Papyrus threw at him! He was somehow able to turn himself into puddles of paint to get away, and even teleported by throwing paint from his brush around and materializing in the resulting puddles. And his own attacks were just SO hard to dodge! Seriously, those giant inky Gaster Blasters were so powerful! Papyrus was down to a mere 10HP at this point.

In the beginning of the fight Papyrus had gone easy on the smaller Sans, but he'd quickly discovered that it was a mistake to do so. It was clear that Ink was a very powerful and extremely dangerous opponent. Now Papyrus was desperately throwing everything he had at the little guy. At this point he would gladly let his brother go play golf. It was only a matter of pride that kept him fighting.

Unfortunately, it seemed the battle had caught some extremely unwanted attention. There were so many skeletons gathered around them, all clear variations of Sans. Papyrus didn't know how they knew that there was a battle going on—maybe it was a Sans thing? Maybe Sanses just knew when another Sans was in combat? Who knew? But it was humiliating to be losing to such a small and delicate creature in front of such a large crowd.

Ink threw another attack at Papyrus, and the taller skeleton couldn't dodge fast enough. He quickly found himself at 1HP. In sudden panic, he wondered if Ink planned to kill him. His fears were alleviated when Ink spoke.

"Let's see," he said. "You're at 1HP, and I don't want to kill you. I just want you to hold your end of the bargain. Red gets to play golf with me and Outer!"

"Alright!" cried Papyrus. "You win! You WIN!"

The crowd cheered, and two more cute and tiny Sanses rushed to Ink and hugged him. "You were great, Ink!" said the one in yellow. The one in blue cried, "Yeah! You kicked his butt!"

"Thanks, you guys!" Ink said happily.

"How did such a small Sans defeat me?!" asked Papyrus in distress. A Sans wearing a fluffy orange and blue hoodie and slippers, who was somehow even smaller than Ink, grinned and said, "He's a Sans. We're all very powerful. But Ink is one of the most powerful beings in the multiverse!"

Papyrus stared around him at all the Sanses. He spotted his brother sharing a bucket of popcorn with a Sans wearing a blue hoodie and pink slippers. He groaned and said, "Where did all these Sanses come from?!"

"Red called us to see Ink kick your butt!" replied a Sans wearing a hooded black robe. He had massive feathery black wings, and was carrying a scythe. A chill ran down Papyrus's spine when the Sans spoke.

"Wait... 'Red'?" asked Papyrus. The Sans carrying the scythe grinned and said, "You know, your brother?"

"SANS!" yelled Papyrus.

"Yes?" responded every Sans in the vicinity. Papyrus facepalmed, and said, "I'm talking to MY Sans!"

"Well then, specify which Sans you're talking to or we'll all respond every time!" said the tiny yellow-clad Sans that was still hugging Ink.

Papyrus sighed in frustration. Pretty much every Sans around him was adorable and he just wanted to keep them all, but after his battle with Ink he could see that they were not to be underestimated. And at 1HP, he didn't want to provoke them into attacking him. "Sans—I mean... Red? Just... just go play golf."

"Finally!" cheered the fluffy Sans. "Come on, Red! It's time for you to play golf in space with me and Ink!"

 _Wait... in SPACE?!_ Papyrus wondered if he heard that right. It seemed there were stranger worlds in the multiverse than he'd anticipated.

***Time Skip***

Papyrus was waiting for his brother in the living room of their house, thinking about all the Sanses he'd seen. There had been so many of them! He just wanted to keep them all. But they'd all left to go back to wherever they came from when his brother had left to go play golf... in space, apparently.

Papyrus couldn't stop thinking about how cute they'd all been, and how much he wanted to just pick them up, take them home, and feed them lasagna. And now, he was determined to do just that.

Red came home to see his brother sitting on the couch. As soon as Papyrus saw him he said, "Sans, I have come to the decision that I want to collect your kind."

"Uhhh... Boss?" asked Red, confused.

"The Sanses," Papyrus said in a surprisingly patient tone. "I already have one Sans in my collection, and now I need the rest!"

"Who do you have already?" Red asked, still confused. Papyrus answered, "I should think that was obvious. You. And now I need more. Tell me Sans, which of your ilk would be the easiest to get ahold of?"

 _What the hell?!_ Red thought. "I don't know? We're all pretty powerful! I guess, Blue? He's one of the weaker ones, I suppose. But he's one of the Star Sanses along with Ink and Dream, and those two will protect him if he seems to be in danger."

"I'm not going to hurt him or any of the other Sanses," scoffed Papyrus. "I need you all in mint condition!"

"Well, if you can convince them that you don't plan to hurt them, the Star Sanses might be willing to be in your... collection—as long as they have the freedom to leave when they're needed to protect the multiverse. That's their job, after all."

"Fine, fine," said Papyrus, standing up. "I shall start collecting them in the morning."

With that, he left the house to look for supplies for collecting the Sanses. Red watched him go, then facepalmed.

_Seriously, what the HELL?!_


	2. The Mansion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ink creates an impressive mansion for Papyrus's Sans Collection.

"Your brother wants to start a WHAT?!" Dream said. Red sighed, "A Sans Collection. Don't ask me why! All I know is what he told me."

"Okay," said Ink. "Exactly what did he tell you?"

"He said he wants to collect Sanses," Red said. "He already has me and he needs the rest. He claims he's not going to hurt any of you because he, and I'm quoting him here, 'needs you all in mint condition'."

"That's not gonna happen," Ink said. "We need to be able to protect the multiverse from the Bad Sanses!"

"I told him that, and he agreed to allow you to leave whenever you need to do your jobs," Red said. "I doubt he's going to give up on the idea of collecting Sanses. He can be very persistent when he's made a decision."

"Where does he even plan to keep us all?" Blue asked. "I'm sure your house is the same size as mine, and my house is nowhere near big enough to hold very many of us!"

"I don't know!" Red said. "I don't think he's even thought that far ahead. He just left after he told me about his plan to collect us, and I called you as soon as he was gone."

Suddenly the front door opened, and Papyrus walked into the house. He was carrying a large bag.

"Hang on, he just got back," Red said. "I'll ask him." He turned to his brother and said, "Uh... Boss? Where do you plan on putting all the other Sanses? There's no way we'll all fit in the house!"

Papyrus scoffed. "I'm not going to be keeping my collection in the house," he said. "I'm going to build a bigger one to put you all in. One worthy of such a collection!"

"... He says he's going to build a bigger house," Red told the Star Sanses. "I'm not sure how he plans on finishing it before morning, though. That's when he said he was going to start collecting you three."

"Sans," Papyrus said, "Are you talking to those three... what did you call them?"

"They're the Star Sanses, protectors of the multiverse," replied Red, "and yes, I'm talking to them. I figured they deserved a heads up!"

"Ask them what their favorite colors are!" Papyrus said. "I want to paint their rooms to their liking!"

"Uhh..." Red said. He repeated the question to the Star Sanses.

"Wow," said Blue. "He's really serious about this, isn't he?"

"Yep, he's very serious," Red said.

"Could you give us a moment, Red?" Dream asked.

"Sure," Red said. He waited patiently for a few minutes before the Star Sanses got back on the phone. Ink said, "Could we talk to your brother?"

"Uh, sure," said Red. "Here, let me put you on speaker." He pressed the speaker icon on his phone and said, "Okay, there you go."

"Papyrus, can you hear us?" Dream asked.

"Yes," replied Papyrus.

"Why do you want to collect us?" asked Blue.

"I have my reasons," Papyrus said simply. "I am under no obligation to share them with you."

"Papyrus, do you remember me?" Ink asked coldly. "I'm the one who kicked your butt earlier. And for the record, I was going easy on you in our fight! I won't go easy on you again. I'm the Protector of AUs. If there's a threat to any of them, I will NOT hesitate to do my job. If a Sans is removed from his AU for too long, it can cause serious damage to it. You collecting Sanses could destroy the AUs. So I'm going to repeat the question. WHY do you want to collect us?"

Papyrus sighed. "You're all just so adorable," he said. "And I want to keep you all. It would be... nice... to come home after a long day of being a Royal Guard and see all your smiling faces. This world needs more cuteness in it. Maybe it would be less of a cruel place if it did."

The Star Sanses were quiet for a few seconds. Then, Blue said, "We need another moment, please!"

After a few more minutes they were back. "Alright, so here's the deal," Ink said. "Like I said, AUs can be destroyed if the Sanses that exist in them leave for too long. But we've come to an agreement, and maybe you're right about Underfell being a better place if we're around. So we're willing to allow you to have a 'Sans Collection', on the condition that ALL of the Sanses are free to go back to their AUs whenever they want to."

"Very well," said Papyrus. "I agree to your terms. Now I have to get started on building the house for my collection."

"Don't worry about that," said Ink. "I'll take care of it!"

Papyrus was about to question how the tiny skeleton planned to build a house on his own, but he stopped himself before he could ask. He remembered how Ink had surprised him in combat all too well. Perhaps the little guy had more tricks up his sleeve.

***Time Skip***

Papyrus stared at the building that had appeared behind his house. It was huge, an absolutely massive mansion! How the hell had Ink managed to bring it into existence overnight?

The crowd around was murmuring about it. The mansion was a source of interest to all in town, with monsters speculating on its origins and purpose.

Suddenly, Ink emerged from a nearby puddle, causing startled yells from the crowd. "What do you think, Papyrus?" he asked, sounding very pleased with himself. "It's perfect for your Sans Collection, isn't it?"

The words "Sans Collection" rippled through the crowd. Papyrus ignored them and asked, "How did you manage to make that overnight?"

"I used my Broomie!" the tiny skeleton said, showing Papyrus his oversized paintbrush. "I'm an artist that can paint anything into existence with my paintbrush! Look!" He painted a sandwich on the ground and, in the blink of an eye, the painting became a real sandwich.

Another murmur spread through the crowd. People were now curious about this small artist. A voice called out, "How powerful are you?"

"Powerful enough to kick Boss's ass yesterday!" said Red, smirking.

"SANS!" yelled Papyrus.

"Yes?" asked not only Red and Ink, but also two more skeletons who popped out of the mansion. Papyrus recognized them as the two Sanses that had hugged Ink after the battle. Dream and Blue, he presumed. He sighed in frustration, and said, "I'm talking to MY Sans!"

That caused even more whispers from the crowd. Papyrus wasn't in the mood to deal with this, so he said, "Sans... ugh, Red, you explain things. I want to take a look at this mansion."

***Time Skip***

Papyrus was incredibly impressed. The mansion had everything a Sans could ever need: massive kitchens, living rooms, libraries, gardens, art rooms, movie theaters, dance studios, game rooms, pools, and more bedrooms than Papyrus could count each with its own en suite bathroom. And that was just the tip of the iceberg. Every room was beautifully decorated, and the tall skeleton knew that every Sans would be comfortable here.

"So, what do you think?" Ink asked eagerly. Papyrus nodded in approval and said, "This is the perfect place to keep my Sans Collection! Well done, tiny Sans!" Ink looked pleased with Papyrus's words.

As Papyrus left the mansion, he saw Red still talking to the crowd. "Oh, yeah," the Sans was saying. "Ink is one of the most powerful beings in the multiverse! In fact, I think the only person whose power rivals his own is his arch-nemesis, Error! He's a Sans too. But he's like Ink's opposite. Ink is a creator and Protector, while Error is the Destroyer of Worlds!"

Papyrus made a mental note to ask about this Error Sans later. For now, he needed to make plans for adding more Sanses to his collection.

Later that evening as Red was walking up the stairs to his room, Papyrus stopped him. "Sans, your new home is in that mansion that the tiny Sans made!"

"Uh... Boss?" Red said confused. Papyrus responded, "You are a Sans. You are part of my Sans Collection. And I will not allow for any part of my collection to be out of place! Not even you."

"Uhh... Okay?" said Red. He went to the mansion and saw the Star Sanses hanging out in one of the dining rooms, eating tacos.

"Oh, hey Red!" said Blue, waving to the bigger Sans. "Do you want a taco?"

"Uhh, sure," said Red. He sat at the table as Blue prepared him a taco.

"Red, what's wrong?" Dream asked. Red looked at him in confusion and asked, "What do you mean? Nothing's wrong."

"You're upset," Dream said.

Red cursed the Guardian's ability to sense emotions. Sighing, he said, "My brother pretty much kicked me out of the house. He said this is my new home. Don't get me wrong, Ink! It's the nicest house I've ever been in. It's just... I wish my brother cared about me."

"He does," said Dream. "He cares about you a lot. I can sense his emotions just as easily as anyone else's. He loves you, but he's worried about you. I'm sure he knows you have low HP, like most other Sanses. He wants to keep you safe. But he thinks that the only way he can do so is by making people think he doesn't care about you so that they don't try to hurt you to get to him."

Red didn't say anything. He wanted to believe Dream, but it was difficult.

"Well, he fought Ink," Blue said as he handed Red a taco. "Didn't you say he underestimated you, Ink?"

"Yep!" Ink said happily. Blue grinned and said, "You may not be as powerful as Ink, but you're still a Sans, Red. People who underestimate us are in for a big surprise! Maybe now that your brother realizes that Sanses are formidable fighters, he won't feel so worried about you!"

"I hope you guys are right," Red said.

Papyrus was standing behind the door, listening. The yellow skeleton was right about everything he'd said. And it really hurt the tall skeleton to treat his brother the way he did. But if the blue skeleton was right, then perhaps he'd made a mistake. Maybe his brother WAS powerful enough to protect himself, despite his low HP. And maybe, just maybe, it wasn't too late for Papyrus to show him he cared.

Papyrus made up his mind. Starting tomorrow, he'd change his treatment of Red. But for now, he would let him get used to his new home.


	3. New Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus wants to start over with his brother.

Papyrus walked to the mansion carrying a pan of his finest lasagna. He'd gotten up earlier than usual that morning to go shopping for the freshest of ingredients. He wanted nothing but the best for his collection.

As he walked through the mansion's first living room he stopped and stared at the couch. It was the length of the living room in his house, but the size wasn't what caught his attention. Laying on the giant couch fast asleep was a Sans. Not his brother or one of those Star Sanses, but a different one. He looked somewhat familiar. Then Papyrus recognized him as the Sans that Red had been sharing popcorn with during the fight with Ink. What was he doing here?

Not that Papyrus was complaining. It just meant that he had another Sans in his collection already. Then the Sans stirred, sniffing the air, and woke up. It seemed that the smell of Papyrus's lasagna had caught his attention even in his sleep.

"Hello, small Sans," Papyrus said. "What brings you here?"

"Oh, I heard you were starting a Sans Collection, and that Ink made a Sansational mansion, so I had to check it out," yawned the Sans sleepily.

_Sanses seem to share a fondness for puns, I see,_ thought Papyrus. Then it hit him what the small skeleton had said. "Wait, you heard about my collection?"

"Oh, yeah," said the Sans, "word spreads pretty quickly about stuff that affects lots of Sanses. And this sort of thing affects us all, so everyone's curious. I think Bird and Dance are around here somewhere."

This was perfect! If the Sanses were turning up on their own, maybe Papyrus wouldn't need a plan to get them. He could just wait as they came of their own accord.

Red walked into the room carrying two bottles. One had his usual mustard drink, but the other had something different. Ketchup, maybe? He handed the red bottle to the other Sans saying, "Here ya go, Classic."

"Thanks, Red," said the smaller Sans. Papyrus made a mental note to remember the names used for each Sans. Red, Ink, Dream, Blue, Classic. And apparently there were two called Bird and Dance in the mansion as well. He wondered briefly how they all got their nicknames. Maybe he'd ask one of them. But right now he had a mission.

"San- I mean, Red," Papyrus said. Red looked up at him nervously.

"Yeah, Boss?"

"I heard your conversation with the others last night."

"Uh... which others? The Star Sanses or Epic and Cross?"

Okay, so now there were two more Sans names to remember. "The Star Sanses," Papyrus said. "And the yellow Sans is right, about everything he said. I DO care about you Sans, and I've been trying to protect you from my enemies by making them think I don't care. But if the blue Sans is right about you being more powerful than I thought, then maybe you can protect yourself."

Red didn't say anything. He wasn't really sure he'd heard the tall skeleton right. "Uh... Boss?"

"I want you to call me Papyrus from now on," Papyrus said. "Or brother."

"Uh... okay, P-Papyrus."

Satisfied with his brother's response, Papyrus said, "I made delicious lasagna for my collection. Though if there are more Sanses about, perhaps I haven't made enough..."

He handed the pan of pasta to Red, then walked through the mansion in hopes of spotting one of the other Sanses that had been mentioned. Had he not looked up when he walked through one of the gardens, he would have missed one.

Up in a tree was a Sans with huge crow wings and a crow tail. He appeared to be making a nest. Papyrus watched him, intrigued by the Sans's actions. This must be the Bird that Classic had mentioned.

Bird took a stick and examined it before tossing it aside, seemingly dissatisfied with it. He did the same with three more sticks before he found one he liked and added it to his nest.

"Hello, winged Sans!" Papyrus called up to Bird. Startled out of his nest-building, the Sans looked down at him.

"Oh, hey!" Bird said. "I didn't see you there!"

"Why are you building a nest?" Papyrus asked. Bird replied, "I'm a bird. It's what we do. Where else am I supposed to sleep?"

"Is your room not to your liking?" Papyrus asked, surprised. He'd thought that the bedrooms that Ink had made for the Sanses were perfect.

"Oh, no, my room is fine," Bird assured him. "But we birds can't actually sleep in beds. Our wings and tails make that pretty much impossible. We can really only sleep in nests. And we like to make them ourselves. Ink knows that, so he didn't make one for me."

"I see," said Papyrus. It actually did make sense. "Well, I'll let you get back to your nest-making then. Farewell, winged Sans!"

"Bye!" The Sans picked up another stick as Papyrus left the garden.

The tall skeleton thought back on the names of the Sanses he knew about. He had no idea where he might find an "Epic" or a "Cross", but if there was a "Dance" then perhaps he would be in one of the dance studios that Ink had made. Papyrus searched those rooms, finding nobody in the first three he checked. Then as he made his way towards another, he saw two Sanses standing at the doorway. They appeared to be hiding behind the frame as they peeked into the dance studio.

"He's really good," one of the skeletons said quietly. The other replied, "Yeah, bruh! It's too bad he's too shy to perform when people are watching!"

Papyrus approached them. "What are you—"

"SHHH!" the Sanses hissed at him. One of them said, "You'll spook him, bruh!"

Confused, Papyrus peered into the dance studio. In the middle of the room was a Sans breakdancing. Unlike the other Sanses that Papyrus had seen, this one wore his hood up. Papyrus watched him dance, impressed with his skill. Then the Sans saw him, and immediately stopped.

"Uhh... Hi," the Sans said, clearly embarrassed.

The other two Sanses groaned in disappointment. "That was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, bruh!" said one. The other agreed, "Yeah, we're probably never going to get to see that again!"

The Sans in the studio pulled his hood lower over his face when he realized that the Sanses were there.

"Why did you stop?" Papyrus asked. "You are very good!"

"Bruh!" said one of the other Sanses, shaking his head. "He's shy!"

"I see," said Papyrus. He looked at the shy Sans and said, "So you're the one that Classic called 'Dance', I presume?"

The shy Sans nodded, and Papyrus looked at the other two. "And which ones are you?"

The one that kept saying "bruh" introduced himself as Epic, adding another "bruh" at the end. Papyrus wondered why he kept saying that word, but decided not to ask. Clearly each Sans had his own distinct mannerisms. The other Sans introduced himself as Cross.

Since he had now met all of the Sanses that he knew were already here, Papyrus asked them how they were liking the mansion. The three smaller skeletons all agreed that it was pretty nice. Satisfied, the taller skeletons left them to do... whatever it was that Sanses liked to do. He wasn't entirely certain that they all had the same hobbies. After all, he'd never seen RED dancing or building a nest.

Papyrus made his way back toward the front entrance of the mansion, but stopped in a kitchen when he saw his own brother sitting with Classic at the breakfast bar, eating his lasagna.

"Hello, brother," Papyrus said to Red. It felt strange to call him that out loud after all those years of trying to protect him in the way that he had. But he was determined to start treating his brother the way he'd always wanted to. With real kindness. He couldn't remember the last time he'd done that.

Red's head shot up as he heard Papyrus's words. "Uh... hi, Bos- uh... b-bro," he said uncertainly.

Papyrus felt a pang of guilt at his brother's trepidation. He didn't want him to be afraid. Stepping towards Red, the taller brother said, "I want to apologize for how I've treated you in the past. I didn't want you to be in danger, but that isn't any excuse for my behavior. I want you to know that I do love you dearly, brother. Can you forgive me? Can we start over?"

Red hesitated for a moment, then nodded once. Relieved, Papyrus walked to his brother and gave him a hug. It felt awkward, but at least Red hugged him back.

Yes, Papyrus knew it would take some effort to truly make amends to his brother and earn his trust. But he was determined to prove to him that he did truly care.


	4. Brothers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus learns about several adoptive relationships amongst various Sanses.

Papyrus wasn't expecting to find a goopy Sans with tentacles having an angry argument with Ink when he went back into the mansion later that day to deliver more lasagna. But apparently the multiverse is full of surprises.

"I am offended that YOUR mansion is bigger than MY castle!" the goopy Sans yelled. Ink snapped, "Of course it's bigger! This mansion is meant to be able to hold as many Sanses as possible! Your castle is only big to boost your ego! Besides, I may have made this mansion, but it isn't MINE! It belongs to ALL of the Sanses, and Underfell Papyrus!"

"Another Sans!" Papyrus said, pleased. The tiny yellow Stars Sans, who Papyrus had learned was called Dream, sighed.

"That's Nightmare, my brother," Dream said. Confused, Papyrus asked, "You mean that's a Papyrus?"

"No, he's a Sans," Dream said.

"But I thought you were a Sans?" the taller skeleton said, even more confused.

"We're both Sanses," Dream confirmed.

"How can that be?" asked Papyrus. "If you're brothers, shouldn't one of you be a Papyrus?"

Dream sighed again. "We're not ACTUALLY brothers," he explained. "We're not even really related. We both came from the Tree of Feelings to be the Guardians of Positivity and Negativity. It's just that we were such close friends that people assumed we were twins, and they referred to us as such. And eventually, even we started calling each other 'brother'. But that was hundreds of years ago, before Nightmare ate the apples and became what he is today. I just wish things could go back to the way they used to be, back before people discovered the Tree of Feelings. Back when Nightmare was... happy."

Papyrus somewhat understood Dream's explanation. At least the part about Dream and Nightmare being close enough for people to call them brothers without them actually being related. He wasn't so sure about the Tree part, or what apples had to do with anything. Maybe it was just something unique about their AU. But he did understand Dream's implication that Nightmare wasn't happy anymore, and he could see that it bothered the yellow skeleton.

Papyrus marched up to Nightmare and thrust his pan of lasagna at the goopy Sans. "You!" the tall skeleton said. "Unhappy Sans! Eat this lasagna and be happy!"

Nightmare looked at Papyrus. "Fool!" he said. "I am the Guardian of Negativity! I feed off of the distress and suffering of others! THAT is what makes me happy, not your lasagna!"

"Eat my lasagna and be happy for your brother!"

"Papyrus," Dream said, "don't!"

Nightmare glared in Dream's direction, but grudgingly took the lasagna. Satisfied, Papyrus went to look for more Sanses in the mansion. He was sure that there had to be new ones. And he was not disappointed.

In one of the living rooms, he saw Cross sitting on a couch watching TV with a Sans in a black cloak. The Sans had huge feathery black wings, and was holding a scythe. Papyrus recognized him as one of the Sanses that had watched the Royal Guard's fight with Ink.

"Oh, hey dude!" Cross said when he noticed Papyrus. "This is my brother, Reaper!"

"Are you brothers in the way that Dream and Nightmare are?" Papyrus asked. Reaper replied, "No, no! I adopted Cross and Ink after I found out that I could touch them without killing them! I'm the god of death, so every living thing I touch dies. But Ink doesn't have a soul, so I can touch him without killing him. So I adopted him as my brother, and then he met Cross. Ink introduced me to him, and we found out that Cross has a stitched soul, so I can touch him without killing him too! So we adopted Cross as our brother as well!"

"Reaper's the oldest, I'm the middle, and Ink's the baby," added Cross. "Geno, Error, and Fresh are also adoptive brothers, but they adopted each other for different reasons."

"Yeah," Reaper agreed, "Error used to be a Geno, but he messed with his DETERMINATION, and ended up becoming who he is now. When Geno found out, he adopted him. And Fresh just hung out with them until they ended up adopting him as well. Geno's the oldest, then Fresh, then Error."

Papyrus recognized the name "Error" from when Red was talking to the crowd the day before. He frowned, and asked, "Who exactly is Error? My brother mentioned him yesterday, and said he's Ink's arch-nemesis."

"Oh, yeah," said Cross. "He likes to destroy worlds, and Ink protects them. Like Reaper said, Error used to be a Geno before he messed with his DETERMINATION. That means everyone in his world was killed by the human, including his Papyrus. Error tries to destroy the AUs because he believes that the human will end up killing everyone in every world, which means that all versions of his brother will suffer. He believes that destroying the AUs means that his brother won't have to suffer at the hands of the human. He's gone a little... crazy."

"I see," said Papyrus. Now he wanted to meet this Error. But he wasn't entirely certain it would be a good idea. An insane Sans that destroyed worlds to protect Papyruses would be very difficult to handle. Papyrus wasn't sure that even his delicious lasagna would be enough to prevent Error from destroying his world. Or would it? Maybe if he made enough lasagna, Error would decide to stop destroying AUs. Papyrus turned to go back home and make the best lasagna ever for Error.

It was worth a shot.


	5. Ink's Fan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus learns that Ink has an overly obsessed fan.

Papyrus was busy with his duties as a Royal Guard the next day, so he wasn't able to check on his collection until late afternoon. But as soon as he had the opportunity, he took some more lasagna to the mansion.

He was greeted by the sight of a rather interesting looking new Sans in one of the kitchens. This new one was slightly taller than Ink, and had black and red bones. He wore similar clothes to Ink's, but this Sans's clothes were black, red, yellow, and blue. He also wore red glasses. He was talking to Red, who looked pretty annoyed.

"Ink is the greatest hero in the multiverse!" the new Sans was saying excitedly. "Nobody is better than him! He protects the multiverse from so much danger! I wanna be just like him!"

"If you love Ink so much, why don't you marry him?" Red snapped. "All you ever talk about him nonstop! With you, it's just Ink this, and Ink that! Don't you ever think about anything else, Template?"

The new San, Template, gasped in shock. "How dare you!" he cried. "You're just jealous of him! You could never be as cool as Ink!"

And with that, Template stormed off. Papyrus stared after him, then walked to Red.

"Hello, brother!" Papyrus said. Red looked up at him, startled.

"Oh, hey bos—uh, I mean, bro," he said. Papyrus looked in the direction Template had gone, and asked, "So what was that all about?"

"Oh, that was just Template being Template," Red said, scowling. "He's basically Ink's personal obsessed fanboy. Template thinks Ink's the greatest hero in the multiverse, and that he can do no wrong, but he really doesn't even know much about Ink at all. He just saw Ink from a distance a couple of times, and made some assumptions based on what little he saw, and now he's got this overly exaggerated idea of Ink. And nothing anyone says will change his mind. And likewise he's seen a little bit of Error, and now he sees Error as this pure evil villain with no redeeming qualities. The problem with that point of view is that Template is based off of Error. But because Template hates Error and idolizes Ink, he tries to make himself more like Ink and less like Error to the point of refusing to accept himself as an Error. Hell, he even dresses like Ink and made an oversized artistic tool to fit the image."

"I see..." Papyrus said. "Does Ink know about him?"

"Oh, yeah," Red said. "Ink knows. And I think it might actually bother him. Don't tell Template, but I saw Ink in a new outfit a couple hours ago. I think Template copying his style was annoying him too much, so he changed it up. Also, Ink doesn't like interfering with the timelines, because it disrupts the story, but Template always interferes because he wants to play the hero, so that definitely bothers Ink a lot. But no matter what anyone says, Template keeps doing it."

"Has Ink talked to him about it?" asked Papyrus. Red shook his head.

"No, Ink's never actually talked to Template," he said. "Ink tries to avoid him. I think that if Ink were to actually get close enough to Template for him to talk, Template would never let him have another moment of peace. He's just too obsessed with him. I mean seriously, Template wants to be EXACTLY like Ink. He even messes with his own eyes to make them more like Ink's, even though it causes him a lot of headaches! Ink probably knows that it's more trouble than it's worth to try and talk to Template about his interferences. I swear the way Template talks about Ink, you'd think he was a god of some sort! I mean, sure, Ink's a minor god of creation, but still Template pretty much worships the ground Ink walks on! I'm pretty sure even the most self-absorbed celebrity in the multiverse would think that Template's obsessive idolization of Ink is too much!"

Papyrus cringed inwardly at that. He certainly agreed that Template's behavior was a bit too much. The idea of have a fan as obsessed with him as Template was with Ink made him shudder.

Suddenly, Ink popped his head out of a pot of water on the counter. "Is he gone yet?" he whispered to Red.

"Yeah, he's gone," Red said.

"Good!" Ink said, jumping out of the pot. Papyrus noticed that the tiny skeleton had in fact changed up his style. Truth be told, Ink's new clothes looked like they suited him far more that his old ones did.

"I heard your conversation," the artist said, sitting on the counter. "And you're right, Red. Template's obsession with me really drives me crazy. I mean, in the beginning I was fine with knowing I had a fan. Actually, I was kind of flattered. But then Template started going way too far. I think he might have even snuck into my house and stolen some souvenirs, but I can't prove it. I might have just misplaced the missing items, knowing my bad memory. But it's still a very real possibility. And it's really frustrating knowing that I have to wonder if my memory is to blame for me losing things or if they were stolen by Template. To be honest, I want to confront him about his obsession with me, but it's very likely that all he'll get out of that is the knowledge that I've been noticing him. And if that's the case, it'll just keep fueling his obsession with me. And if someone else confronts him for me, well his idolization of me makes him think that I would never say anything bad about anyone, so he's not likely to believe that I'll really be mad at him. So he'd probably think they're lying, and might even attack them."

"That's terrible!" Papyrus said. "So is there anything you CAN do about his obsession with you, Ink?"

"I feel like the only thing worth trying is continuing to ignore and avoid him, in the hopes that he never actually gets close enough to me to start a conversation," Ink replied, shaking his head in exasperation.

"I see," Papyrus said. He looked down at his pan of lasagna, and said, "Here! Eat this lasagna! Maybe it will take your mind off of things, and make you feel better about it!"

"Thanks!" Ink said as Papyrus handed him the pan.

As Ink served himself some lasagna, Papyrus left the mansion. Maybe he could think of a way to help Ink with his Template Problem.


End file.
